Philanthropy

This time of year individuals are inclined to give generously to charities. Giving can take many forms, from large planned gifts to spare change from cars' cup holders. Regardless of how big or small, gifts should be viewed as investments in our community. Research shows that every dollar spent on prevention saves $7 on intervention. Now, that's a solid return on investment. If the lingering impact of the economic crisis has taught us anything, it's that investing in prevention - helping people become healthier, safer, more educated and financially stable - has never been more important.

This time of year individuals are inclined to give generously to charities. Giving can take many forms, from large planned gifts to spare change from cars' cup holders. Regardless of how big or small, gifts should be viewed as investments in our community. Research shows that every dollar spent on prevention saves $7 on intervention. Now, that's a solid return on investment. If the lingering impact of the economic crisis has taught us anything, it's that investing in prevention - helping people become healthier, safer, more educated and financially stable - has never been more important.

WASHINGTON -- "In business you look for the easy things to do . . . and fortunately you find them sometimes," Warren Buffett said Monday. "Philanthropy is a tougher game." Buffett, the legendary investor who started 50 years ago with $105,000 and turned it into $44 billion, explained that in business you seek the path of least resistance and don't go looking for problems. The whole purpose of philanthropy, though, is to wade into the gnarliest, most intractable problems you can find and then try to solve them.

International photographer Greg Davis of Austin, Texas was awarded the inaugural Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation "Art of Philanthropy" award for his photograph "Blanket Weaver" at the 54th Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival. The photograph features a woman's hands dyed green and blue as a result of her blanket weaving. Davis captured this moment during his 2005 trip to Vietnam. The "Art of Philanthropy" award recognizes the piece of artwork that expresses "the love of mankind" and represents philanthropy at its very best.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles will fete Viacom and CBS chairman Sumner Redstone at its annual Rising Stars gala in October. Redstone will receive the org's Walt Disney Man of the Year kudo at the event, set for Oct. 26 at the Beverly Hilton. Award recognizes individuals who have made contributions to the L.A. community. Redstone's philanthropic commitments in recent years have included significant support for such youth-focused orgs as A Place Called Home, Autism Speaks and the Cambodian Children's Fund.

When Radcliffe College elected alumna Keller Cushing Freeman to its board, the philosophy professor assumed the school wanted her sage advice.She found out quickly that the Cambridge, Mass., campus already had its quota of middle-aged philosophers. It needed cold cash, and Freeman's assignment was to help raise it.In the process, she reconsidered her own gift-giving and her assumptions about women and philanthropy. ''I sailed by thinking that if I volunteered 40 hours a week for an organization, that was better than writing them a check,'' says Freeman, who lives in Greenville, S.C. ''Sometimes yes, but sometimes no.''All too often, women respond to pleas for aid with a bake-sale mentality.

The power to tax is an awesome responsibility that is abused easily. The state of Florida now has sanctioned the abuse of taxation in its ugliest form, the power of some county governments to tax for philanthropy.There are thousands of people who enjoy symphony music. There also are thousands of people who enjoy the ballet. Is it fair to tax to support one art form and deny the other? Is it fair to deny tax subsidies to the millions of people who enjoy country-Western music while taxing to support symphony orchestras?

Encouraged by the flood of online donations unleashed by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, technology heavyweights America Online, Cisco Systems and Yahoo are taking online philanthropy to the next level. They are among backers of a new Web site intended to stimulate charitable giving over the Internet to hundreds of thousands of causes. Network for Good (networkforgood.org) launches this week, just as the high season for charitable giving kicks off. The site expects to capitalize on the instant gratification thousands felt when they gave more than $120 million online to Sept.

"Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary." MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., CIVIL-RIGHTS LEADER

WASHINGTON -- America's leading charities raised more than $38 billion last year, an increase of 13 percent over 1998, a philanthropy journal reports in this week's issue. The Salvation Army led the 1999 survey of the top 400 charities for the eighth straight year, receiving $1.4 billion in cash and donated goods, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, which began compiling contribution statistics in 1991.

Sila Maria Calderon, the former governor of Puerto Rico and founder of her own philanthropic foundation will be the keynote speaker in September at a meeting of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving's Latino Endowment Fund. She will discuss the important role of developing public/private partnerships to create strong communities. The event, which is open to the public, will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 18, from 5:30 - 8 p.m. (program begins at 6:30p.m.) at the Hartford Hospital Education and Resource Center, 560 Hudson St., Hartford.

The general public seems to think showbiz people are shallow and self-absorbed. Frequently that's true -- let's compare notes sometime! -- but many individuals and companies are caring and generous. It's hard to think of another industry that works so hard to take care of its own (MPTFund, Actors Fund, et al.) and that has so many orgs dedicated to helping others. Everyone had been forced to leave their homelands because of natural catastrophes (e.g., drought), politics or war and violence.

Bizzers might not know about the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. 's philanthropic contributions, and, until recently, this included three-time Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais , says org prexy Aida Takla-O'Reilly. "When I met Ricky Gervais last year in Paris to talk, he said, 'You give all that money away? Why doesn't anybody know about it?'" Takla-O'Reilly recalls. "I said, 'Speak about it when you come to the Golden Globes.' " This year, the HFPA will donate more than $1.2 million to 40 industry-related schools and orgs, as selected by the trustees.

Paul Newman was Harvey Weinstein 's Westport , Conn., neighbor. The kind of neighbor who stops by just to drop off a loaf of bread. As Weinstein remembers it, "So Paul called me one day and said, 'Come on up to the camp.' I said, 'How far is it?' Paul said, 'An hour.' I looked on the map. It was like three hours. " The movie star arrived in his innocent-looking Volvo. "As I strapped in, I said to myself, 'This is definitely going to be a long trip,' " recalls Weinstein. And so the threesome shot off for the dense woods of Ashford, Conn., -- Harvey in the front seat, brother Bob in the back.

The Hollywood/Africa axis has never been greater. A-listers are not only using their influence, they're rolling up their sleeves and lending a hand to help solve the continent's devastating problems. The good news: Charlize Theron , Alicia Keys , Ben Affleck , Jeffrey Wright, George Clooney , Matt Damon , Don Cheadle , Brad Pitt , Edward Norton and Sigourney Weaver are all seeing real results for their efforts. In 2007, Theron, a U.N. Messenger of Peace, launched the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Program.

When Barbara Davis comes knocking, Hollywood always answers, that includes George Clooney and Frank Sinatra . "The Carousel of Hope Ball is a real testament to her," Clooney says. "She's able to really put together a great group of people who all love her. Obviously, a big part of this is that you don't want to disappoint her. She works so hard at this, and she's really good at it. And I really care about her. She's a really nice, smart, hardworking woman who I believe very much in. " Clooney will be on hand to keep Variety 's Philanthropist of the Year happy (and accept her Brass Ring Award for "unprecedented humanitarian undertakings")

In case you missed it this weekend, the Orlando Sentinel's Editorial Board named hotelier Harris Rosen the Central Floridian of the year, citing his far-reaching philanthropy and work ethic. Rosen, who purchased his first international Drive hotel for $20,000 in 1974, has built a hospitality empire that includes seven properties and 6,300 rooms. But he is equally known for his community projects, which include providing pre-school education and college scholarships for children in Tangelo Park, working with the Catholic Church to plan a sustainalbe village in Haiti, providing financial support to the YMCA Aquatic Center on International Drive, and endowing the Jewish Community Center in South Orlando.

Kemper, who was active in philanthropy as chairwoman of the Kemper Educational and Charitable Foundation, died in Chicago Wednesday at age 101. The cause of death was not released. Kemper was active on the Lyric Opera Women's Board, a member of the Women's Board of the Chicago Boys Club and a Red Cross volunteer.

When Paul Newman received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Oscars in 1994, he remarked that Hollywood was "the most generous" community in the world. In the intervening years, the entertainment industry's commitment to philanthropic endeavors has only increased. Herewith are just a few initiatives and projects, among many other charitable contributions, that various entertainment companies have created to aid the local and world community. STUDIOS & NETWORKS CBS "Ozzy?